User-interactive electronic skin for instantaneous pressure visualization

作者：Wang, Chuan; Hwang, David; Yu, Zhibin; Takei, Kuniharu; Park, Junwoo; Chen, Teresa; Ma, Biwu; Javey, Ali^*

来源：Nature Materials, 2013, 12(10): 899-904.

DOI：10.1038/NMAT3711

• FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTORS
• LARGE-AREA
• CARBON NANOTUBES
• ARTIFICIAL SKIN
• STRETCHABLE ELECTRONICS
• INTEGRATED-CIRCUITS
• CONDUCTIVE RUBBER
• SENSORS
• MATRIX
• TRANSPARENT

Electronic skin (e-skin) presents a network of mechanically flexible sensors that can conformally wrap irregular surfaces and spatially map and quantify various stimuli(1-12). Previous works on e-skin have focused on the optimization of pressure sensors interfaced with an electronic readout, whereas user interfaces based on a human-readable output were not explored. Here, we report the first user-interactive e-skin that not only spatially maps the applied pressure but also provides an instantaneous visual response through a built-in active-matrix organic light-emitting diode display with red, green and blue pixels. In this system, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are turned on locally where the surface is touched, and the intensity of the emitted light quantifies the magnitude of the applied pressure. This work represents a system-on-plastic(4,13-17) demonstration where three distinct electronic components-thin-film transistor, pressure sensor and OLED arrays-are monolithically integrated over large areas on a single plastic substrate. The reported e-skin may find a wide range of applications in interactive input/control devices, smart wallpapers, robotics and medical/health monitoring devices.

• 出版日期2013-10